Red-Barked Trees above a Tropical Glacier Lake

Red-Barked Trees above a Tropical Glacier Lake is an original illustration set in Cordillera Blanca, Peru. It lies in equatorial latitudes, where the climate is tundra — too cold for trees.

A sparse grove of low twisted trees with peeling red-brown bark surrounds a brilliant turquoise lake. Pale tussock grass covers the high valley, while a steep white glacier and dark granite peaks rise immediately above the unusual woodland.

How can a twisted woodland grow beside glaciers at more than four thousand metres?

Polylepis trees tolerate intense ultraviolet light, freezing nights, thin air, and exposed Andean soils at elevations where most trees disappear. Their small leaves and layered peeling bark reduce water and heat loss, allowing scattered woodland near the tropical alpine zone. Red papery trunks beside a turquoise glacial lake and ice-covered Cordillera Blanca summits form a distinctive high-Andean geographic signature.

Terpano is a free daily geography puzzle. You study one original illustration, place a pin on a borderless terrain map, and see how close you were. There is no account and no sign-up; progress stays in your own browser. It plays in 11 languages.